Attachment for ships



` w. H. wAmNGToN.

ATTACHMENT FOR SHIPS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23| |918.

Patented Dec. V16, 1919.

/i/ifnesses WILLIAM I-I. wATLINGToN, or SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

ATTACHMENT rca siiir's.

specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 23, 1918. Serial No. 259,315.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WAT- LINGTON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Savannah, in the county of Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsV in Attachments for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ship construction, and the primary object thereof is to equip a ship with means capable of changing her downward plunge `or that force which is directed downward into Va force forward.

Another object is to provide an kattachment for a ship to check the pitch of a ship so that sail which usually has to be taken in to relieve strain on the spars and rigging may be Vcarried and thereby retain speed which would otherwise be lost.

Another object is to so construct a ship that her head will be kept well out of Water and the plunge of her bow into the water which breaks up her speed prevented thereby retaining speed which would be lost by suoli plunging.

Another.V object is to equip a ship with ,tins constructed to insure safety of the ship so equipped by .preventing her from burying'her bow into thersea when overtaken by a wave. Y Another object is to provide meansV for causing the ship to come up readily in the' wind and when on the wind will operate s o as to check her. making leeway. -v With the Jforegoing and other objects in view, whichy will appear as the description proceeds,pthe invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In theV accompanying drawings ,Y .Figure l represents a side elevation of a portion of a ship equipped with one of these improved fins,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the fins constituting this invention, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Y Y

In the embodiment illustrated, the fin 5 constituting this invention is shown applied to a ship 1 having the usual hull 2, the water line being represented at 3. This fin 5, any desired number of which mayv be employed, comprises a substantially triangular frame having laterally spaced websY or bars 6 eX` tending longitudinally thereof. This frame may be composed of any suitable strain-rey sisting material, and the spaces between the webs or bars 6 are normally closed byvalves 7 hinged tothe barsV 6 and preferably opening upwardly and' :away from the longer member or hypotenuse 8of theframe, which Patented Dee. 16, 1919.#

latterl is designed to be VVdisposed,adjacent l the ship hull whereby.the mouthsof the` valves will be toward the ship.

These trap-door like valves open whenthe" lin is sinking with theship to let the water below them through, so that there willfbe practically no resistance, 'and theygclose4 when the fin rises owing to the weight of the water above them.

It is to be understood that a pair of these iins are to be placed along theV after. run of the ship, one on each side, and about six or eight feet lbelow the water line, more or less. The valves of the fins open andv shut according to the rise or fall of the ship and operate to check'the heavy riding of the'ship when under heavy press of canvas particularly when a high seais. running.

The fins are designed when applied to an ordinaryv Asize'ship to be 4vpositioned from four to six feet below the` water line and to extend out at right angles fromthe stern post, withtheir rear ends 9 secured to the postor if desired, they may be bracedto the hull of the vessel. When so applied these. fins have the appearance of two platforms buiit out from the ship with the counter of the ship immediately overhead and covering Y By' having the valves open toward the ship, should the iin which happens to be on the weather side be struck by a wave while above water, the valveswill shut and thus be prevented from being torn olf or'otherrwise injured. These valves 7 have flanges 7 on their free edges which are designed to Seaton the adjacent bar 6 as shown clearly in Fig. 3. Stops `10 are mounted on the upper face of bar 6inv position to prevent the valves from opening beyond the vertical po@ sition to insure their closing at theproper time. l t

The bars 6 ofthey frame arejjprebferably triangular incross section with their flat faces arranged upwardly and their apices down so that the slightest resistance only will be oered when the ship sinks.

A fitter ll is employed for attaching each iin to the ship and is made in the form of a bar curved longitudinally on one edge as shown at l2 and made straight on its other side as shown at 13. The curved edge l2 is designedto engage the ship hull and to conform'thereto, while the straight edge is designed for contact with the longitudinal edge or hypotenuse 8 of the frame. These members 8 and ll are secured together by bolts lll which are driven therethrough and through the ship hull 2 as shown in F ig. 3, being secured by nuts in the usual manner.

A rod l5 supports the outer corner of the iin, and the hn is arranged at an incline as shown in Fig. l with the valves extending fore and aft with the general length of the ship to prevent the line together with the valves from catching the water.

From the above description it will thus be seen that a ship equipped with fins as above described will have the pitch thereof checked andthe sail that ordinarily has to be taken in to relieve4 strain on the spars and rigging may be carried and consequently the speed which would otherwise have been lost, Will be retained. Moreover, these fins operate to keep the head of the ship well out of water and check her from plunging the bluff of her bow into the water and in that way prevent the continual breaking up of her speed. A further great advantage derived from the use of these improved fins is that they will operate to change the course which is directed downward and convert it into a forward force.

The preventing of the pitching of the ship renders it much more comfortable for passengers and insures her safety.

There might be some questionl of a ship skudding, but a wave overtaking a ship equipped with these fins would partly flow under the fins and partly above them so that the iin would offer no resistance further than to check the toss that such a wave would give, and this would prevent the ship from burying her bows in the sea and prevent her from foundering, should such dan- Y ger exist.

It is to be understood that any desired number of valves may be employed and they need not necessarily be made in continuous pieces, but in sections if found desirable.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while I have described the principle of 'operation of the invention together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, l desire to have it understood that theV device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are within the scope of the claimed invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A iin for attachment to one side of a vessel having valves all mounted to Open and shut according to the rise or fall of the vessel7 and thereby operate to check the heavy riding of the ship when under heavy press of canvas, or when a high sea is'running.

2. An attachment for vessels comprising a frame equipped with meansl for securing it to the hull of a vessel and having valves all of which open upwardly.

"3. An attachment for vessels comprising av frame having upwardly opening valves, and means for attaching said frame to one side of the hull of a vessel.

e. An attachment for vessels comprising a frame having upwardly opening valves, and means for attaching said frame to a vessel, said means comprising a fitter shaped to conform to one side of the hull of the vessel and to the attachment to be connected.

5. A device of the class described comprising a .substantially triangular frame having longitudinally extending laterally spaced bars, and upwardly opening valves mounted on said frame and adapted to close aga-instsaid bars.

6. A device of the class described comprising a substantially triangular yframe having longitudinally extending laterally spaced bars, upwardly opening valves mounted on said frame and adapted to close against said bars, vand means for limiting the upward opening movement of the valves.

47. A device of the class described comprislng a frame having longitudinally extending laterally spaced bars, upwardly opening valves mounted on said frame and adapted to close against said bars, and stops'positioned on said frame for engaging said valves to limit their upward opening movement.

8. A device of the class described comprising a substantially triangular frame, having laterally spaced longitudinally extending bars, upwardly opening valves hinged to said frame and adapted to overlap the adj acent bars and to close tightly thereon said valves opening toward the hypotenu'se of the triangle.

a l9. A device of the class described comprising a substantially triangular frame, having laterally spaced longitudinally extending bars, upwardly opening valves hinged to said frame and adapted to overlap the adjacent bars and to close tightly thereon, said valves opening toward the hypotenuse of the triangle, and a tter adapted to be positioned between said Vframe and the ship hull to which the device is to be connected, said fitter conforming on one edge to the hull of the ship and on the other to the frame of the attachment.

10. In a device of the class described, a substantially triangular frame having laterally spaced longitudinally extending bars, valves hinged to said frame and bars and adapted to close aga-inst the bars, a tter for connecting the hypotenuse of the triangular frame to a ship, and a rod for connecting the outer corner thereof.

11. The combination with a ship; of a pair of valved fins carried by the opposed sides thereof.

12. The combination with a ship; of a pair of valved ns carried by the opposed sides of its hull at the stern thereof.

13. The combination with a ship; of a pair of fins carried by the opposed sides of its hull at the stern thereof, said ns having Valves opening upwardly.

` 14. The combination with a ship; of a litter fixed to one side wall of the outer face of the hull of said ship at the stern thereof, and a n hinged to the tter, to turn upwardly on the settling of the stern in the water and to flatten out as the stern comes up.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature in presence of two'witnesses.

WILLIAM H. WATLINGTON.

Witnesses:

GRACE BOULINEAU, JOHN L. TRAVIS. 

